Every week, PLUME VOYAGE Magazine offers you a selection of cultural news and international exhibitions. To warm you up at the end of this rainy January, jet off to Germany, Brussels, Rome and Pézenas. Here is a chance to discover the work of Peter Doig and Timur Kerim Incedayi, to marvel at the timeless glamour of the 1930s and even take a tour of the ice with young artists. Come on, it’s happening now!

A polyvalent artist, Peter Doig lives and works in Trinidad, London and New York.

His large-scale canvases most often portray human beings amidst anonymous landscapes and take inspiration from iconographic personal or abandoned documents. These canvases depict melancholy, in the romantic sense of the word, in which one can lose oneself. His representations of nature are often full of mystery, equally exotic and nostalgic, appealing yet menacing. The exhibition displays a many number of his larger works as well as engravings, which emphasise the inventiveness of the artist and which are sometimes used as the starting point of his work.
Until 22nd Marchwww.fondationbeyeler.ch

After the Roaring Twenties and era of androgyny, which allowed for all sorts of extravagance, the woman makes a discrete return with unostentatious luxury, in accordance with recent crisis years. She rediscovers her shapes, by emphasising knowledgeable cuts, and diagonally cut fabrics that cling to the body.

The female dress code is extremely complicated and its complexity will only grow with social style. But whatever their condition, women dream of dressing like Hollywood actresses, in breath-taking gowns. Glamour and sophistication become the focus of the decade.
Until 19th Aprilwww.museeducostumeetdeladentelle.be

Since the 1960s and still today, Turkish artist Timur Kerim Incedayi

builds a bridge between East and West, between Rome and Istanbul. Here are two cities whose history and culture have been compared and mixed over the centuries. Having trained at the Beaux-Arts academy in Rome, Timur Kerim Incedayi has collaborated with numerous Italian painters and participated in the creation of the Metroposlimo movement with Nico Paladini, Sciacca and Antonio Carlos Grippo. These pieces on display are dedicated to the relationship between the two capitals, whilst underlining a theme that is close to the artist’s heart: the deep and magical resonance of an artistic and cultural past that unites these two major influential metropolises. Until 1st Marchwww.comune.roma.it

As winter lingers for several more weeks, snow is in the air, and the Maison des metiers d’Art in Pézenas offers you the chance to immerse yourself in the ice age experience.

Across the work of a dozen artists, this is the theme from the ice floe, its inhabitants and the nuances, which are explored with different techniques and materials. Also an opportunity to acquire some of these masterpieces.
Until 28th Marchwww.ateliersdart.com

From Elizabeth Ière to Margaret Thatcher, Coco Chanel and Lady Gaga,

female fashion has always been a powerful means of expression and a sophisticated element of visual language. This exhibition explores the way in which influential, political, artistic and businesswomen have used style to define and refine their positions in the world. And today, around twenty of these women share their clothes, photos, archives and interviews as a channel to express their beliefs through materials. The exhibition also examines a century and a half of feminine fashion by looking at the way these goddesses of the big-screen, hippies and punks have influenced the trends we see today.
Until 26th Aprilwww.designmuseum.org

Renowned for his often sharply realistic canvases, Chuck Close has created numerous portraits of famous figures such as Barack Obama, Brad Pitt, Cindy Sherman or even Roy Lichtenstein.

Work by Chuck Close aligns painting, photography, etching, lithography and traditional Japanese wood engraving. By designing pieces characterised by the way he pushes techniques to their very limits and his exceptional knowledge, Chuck Close is an artist of limited production, as certain engravings take two years to create. This exhibition allows visitors to appreciate his work, and it is also the first major retrospective of the artist seen in the Southern hemisphere.
Until 15th Marchwww.mca.com.au

Incorporating fantastic views, uninterrupted panoramas

and never-ending landscapes, this exhibition opens our eyes to a vision of new perspectives. For the first time, the point of view is that of a bird. Almost two hundred pieces – including paintings, prints, photographs but also maps – allow the viewer to soar above almost five centuries of European faith, from the Christian outlook to the Middle Ages, and onto the more technical experiences of the modern world.
Until 22nd Februarywww.gnm.de

The beautiful and young “Bishojo” girls are characters familiar in contemporary Japanese popular culture, widely portrayed in manga work and cartoons. But Japan’s fascination with these figures has an extensive history. From ukiyo-e prints from the Edo age (1603-1868)

to the Showa era (1926-1989), and from beer logos to plays inspired by the manga work of Osamu Tezuka, the exhibition gathers together more than 300 depictions of Bishojo.
Until 16th Februarywww.bishojo.info

Under the guidance of Jeremy Deller,

laureate of the Turner prize, the exhibition simultaneously presents relatively unknown works by William Morris and Andy Warhol. This daring juxtaposition puts into perspective the prolific careers of these two artistic figures and defines the conceptual backdrop of the eras during which they were active. “Here are two figures who have so much in common, and not just their tendency to contradict one another”, explains Jeremy Deller. Morris and Warhol established engraving businesses and distributed their work by new means of mass production. Both also worked with contemporary artists on the redefinition of reproduction processes. This exhibition highlights the various mutual points of contact in their working methods.
Until 8th March.www.modernartoxford.org.uk

The particularly diverse,

body of work by Degas does not solely limit itself to the representation of dancers and bathers to whom the artist owes his notoriety. And although his canvases and pastels seem to reflect the work of impressionists, he has always endeavoured to maintain his independence through his use of movement. This exhibition presents Degas as he was: a transitional artist, oscillating between tradition and modernity, an heir to former masters, but able to innovate and translate his experiences. And so, this exhibition attempts to emphasise new perspectives on the work of the artist that we all thought we knew.
Until 1st February.www.kunsthalle-karlsruhe.de

For a long time unknown, the work of African American artists is brought to the forefront in this special exhibition.

Across an enormous range of stories, subjects, styles and various mediums, work by artists such as Horace Pippin, Jacob Lawrence, Alma Thomas et Carrie Mae Weens, amongst others, covers two centuries of history. A wonderful insight into the engagement of African American artists with the different movements that have marked world history.
Until 5th April.www.philamuseum.org

As the first part of an exhibition that celebrates the France-Korean Cultural Exchange,

this “Traveller’s Tale” invites you on a double journey, that of Victor Collin de Plancy (1853-1922). He explored the space on the Korean peninsula, in the heart of the Far East, in the hopes of discovery an ancient, sophisticated culture, but he also takes us through time, towards this “royal hermit”, which was opened to the world at the end of the 19th century. The first French consul general of Korea, Victor Collin de Plancy collected numerous art objects over thirty years, which he brought back to France. Between 1888 and 1891, he gathered together some 260 pieces of Korean ceramics for the National Museum of Ceramics and the Guimet museum. Today, some of the most beautiful of these objects are on display – a world-first for many of them – as well as numerous photographs, pictures and pieces of furniture.
From 21st January to 20th July 2015.www.sevresceramique.fr

It did not exist last winter,

and yet it now satisfies contemporary art fanatics, who discover its long term standing in France, after having “taken their skis off”: the Aspen Art Museum has opened a new building, designed by Shigeru Ban, thank you very much…Having recreated our Centre Pompidou in Metz, the winner of the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize has inaugurated his gigantic transparent structure in the poshest resort in the States. Since its’ opening, it has played host to the most specialised of exhibitions! Current displays include artist Agnès Martin – contemporary specialist in abstract expressionism -, videos by Nick Relph and the installations of Lutz Bacher amongst others…but above all, you can sign your children up to specialist workshops between tobogganing sessions. Makes a change from the usual underground kid’s clubs, don’t you think?www.aspenartmuseum.com

Following the success of Confessions in 2012, the House of Today association –

an NGO founded to enrich design culture in Lebanon – inaugurates its second exhibition with no less than 30 designers on the menu. Mixing local artists (Kamal Aoun, Karim Chaya…) and major international guests (led by Sam Baron), this Middle Eastern representation takes on an entirely different perspective: a contemporary one, certainly, but with often opposing glimpses, each playing to their own rules…the materials, the shapes and subjects vary but one common theme dominates: optimism used creatively. A wonderful panel of future great artists.www.houseoftoday.com

This exhibition is without a doubt the paragon of its genre this year:

celebrated art historian and author Gary Schwartz manages the tour de force of gathering together the grandest signatures of the golden age of the Ecole Hollandaise, beneath a single pavilion, open to the public until 15th February. Rembrandt, Pieter Lasman, Jan Steen, Frans van Mieris… all the greatest painters of 16th and 17th century never fail to capture themes of love, joy, rage, despair and suffering. The 50 masterpieces exhibited here in Haarlem were not only chosen for their beauty but particularly for the emotion that they translate, ‘the greatest force in all painting’ according to theorist Willem Goeree. A master class in technique.
The emotional paintings of the Dutch golden age.www.franshalsmuseum.nl

A half-century old symbol of fraternity and friendship between France and Lebanon;

since its inception, the tourism office was opened to introduce Lebanese patrimony, gastronomy and culture in France and lends it support to exiles and victims of the 1975 war. During a dinner last December, in the presence of Lebanese tourism minister, Michel Pharaon, and Serge Akl, director of the Tourism Office, officially launched its 50th birthday on 1st January. The year will be interspersed with cultural demonstrations and exhibitions, plus projects in cinema, music, publishing and photography, all by promoting familiarisation trips to Lebanon “…in response to a difficult regional situation, we pulling out all the stops in order to glamorise Lebanon by any means possible’ affirms Serge Akl.

Until 8th February, the most controversial and certainly the most influential artist of the 20th century comes to the capital of emerging rock’n’roll.

Normal situation then! Paying homage to the philosophy of the artist, “art should relate to everybody”, this exhibition returns to all the consumerist culture, which won Andy Warhol critical acclaim: films, music, recordings, different media outlets (Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar…) and makes you reflect upon the eternal (and obsolete?) distinction between mass culture and elitist inspiration. This is a perfectly pertinent subject that links in with Jeff Koons (another supporter of culture for all) who we have recently inspected in Paris.
Transmitting Andy Warhol at Tate Liverpoolwww.tate.org.uk

If you have not yet seen the exhibition,

or indeed if you have never had the chance to admire the spectacular architecture of the site – by Franck Gerhy (which may remind you of something…) – it is about time to head South. The Guggenheim museum has gathered together its great masterpieces, by repatriating essential pieces from its sister museum in New York for the occasion. Cubism, abstract, surrealism…every major movement is here, and it is one of the rare chances where you can admire pieces by Chagall, Modigliani, Kandinsky, Cy Twombly and Warhol…all under the same roof. In short, this should be one of your resolutions for the New Year: flee the gloominess and book a weekend getaway to Spain in the coming weeks.
The Art of our Time: Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collections
Until 3rd May.www.guggenheim.org

To celebrate 30 years of Frac (Regional funding for contemporary art),

Franche-Comté has offered itself to the Rolls-Royce of its kind in terms of architecture, on the coast of Doubs in Besançon, with a new construction by Kengo Kuma. And we would have very nearly missed out on this work if this new pixelated city of art – unique in France on an environmental and energy level, with 1200m2 of photovoltaic panels – did not welcome only the most refined pieces/exhibitions, such as the whitened Promenade by Susanna Fritscher (the White Lady of contemporary art), a sublime, flowing and poetic display. The image of this matter blends with a meander of fluid films and 2 metre glass lenses…an exhibition that also plays with transparency and light, to further inscribe itself in this perfect architecture, adapted around its subject.www.frac-franche-comte.fr

This is one of the most beautiful photography galleries in Europe.

Spanning 2000m2, this former royal post office mixes work by the greats – Annie Leibovitz, Peter Lindberg, Nan Goldin – and emerging artists. Until 16th January, the C/O (Care of) upholds it reputation with around ten simultaneous exhibitions, including the talented Will Mac Bride and his post-Ira snapshots. But you will equally adore the equally poetic and realistic compositions by Niina Vatanen, photos of scenes from Blow Up by Michelangelo Antonioni, taken by David Bailey, Richard Hamilton, Terence Donovan, Don McCullin…and of course, all the contact prints of the big names representing the Magnum agency: Robert Magnum, Cartier-Bresson, Eliott Erwitt, Martin Parr, Werner Bischoff…so many talents all in one go, that must be worth a look surely?www.co-berlin.org